At the Law Offices of Albert Goodwin, we have 15 years of experience preparing estate accountings and getting them approved by the court. If you are looking for an attorney for a New York estate accounting, we at the Law Offices of Albert Goodwin are here for you. You can call us at 718-509-9774 or send us an email at attorneyalbertgoodwin@gmail.com.
An estate accounting in New York is done towards the end of the probate process, when an executor or administrator is winding up the affairs of the estate. Generally, an administrator or executor’s time to account for estate funds occurs seven months after the date of their appointment since creditors have this seven-month period to file for claims. After this 7-month period expires, the executor or administrator can begin the last stage of distributing the remaining property to the estate beneficiaries.
As part of the process, we prepare the following documents and forms:
What is included in the formal estate accounting
Documents that have to be included as part of the formal estate accounting are:
- Petition for Judicial Settlement of Account with Verification
- Receipt and Release plus Acknowledgement before the Notary Public for beneficiaries of the trust
- Citations for beneficiaries who do not sign waivers
- Waiver of Citation and Consent in Accounting for beneficiaries of the trust
- Affidavit of Accounting Party
- Proposed Final Decree of Judicial Settlement
Schedules that have to be submitted with the formal estate accounting
The court requires the submission of the following schedules with an estate accounting.
- Schedule A (Statement of Principal Received)
- Schedule A-1 (Statement of Increases on Sales, Liquidation or Distribution)
- Schedule B (Statement of Decreases Due to Sales, Liquidation, Collection, Distribution or Uncollectibility)
- Schedule C (Statement of Funeral and Administration Expenses and Taxes Charged to Principal)
- Schedule C-1 (Statement of Unpaid Administration Expenses)
- Schedule D (Statement of All Creditor’s Claims)
- Schedule E (Statement of Distributions of Principal)
- Schedule F (Statement of New Investments, Exchanges and Stock Distributions)
- Schedule G (Statement of Principal Remaining on Hand)
- Schedule A-2 (Statement of All Income Collected)
- Schedule C-2 (Statement of Administration Expenses Charged to Income)
- Schedule E-1 (Statement of Distribution of Income)
- Schedule G-1 (Statement of Income on Hand)
- Schedule H (Statement of Interested Parties)
- Schedule I (Statement of Computation of Commissions)
- Schedule J (Statement of Other Pertinent Facts and Cash Reconciliation)
- and Schedule K (statement of Estate Taxes Paid and Allocation Thereof).
Although not every estate accounting requires all the schedules, you would still need to itemize and categorize all the expenses and income and ensure that they are reconciled with your bank balances.
Although informal accountings are more popular for small estates, large estates, though rare, usually require a more formal accounting. If you are a personal representative that is compelled to submit a judicial account or you are a beneficiary that would either like to compel a personal representative to judicially account or need to review an accounting done by a personal representative, we at the Law Offices of Albert Goodwin are here for you. We have offices in New York, NY, Brooklyn, NY and Queens, NY. You can call us at 718-509-9774 or send us an email at attorneyalbertgoodwin@gmail.com.
When someone dies, the first stage is getting appointed as personal representative, whether it is as executor or administrator. The second stage is gathering the property of the decedent and paying for the decedent’s expenses and debts. This second stage is usually a 7-month period after the personal representative’s appointment where creditors can file their claims against the estate and the personal representative can pay the legitimate debts of the decedent. Once this 7-month period expires, the executor or administrator can begin winding up the affairs of the estate by providing an accounting to the beneficiaries, and thereafter, distributing the remaining property to them.
Types of New York estate accounting
New York estate accounting can be informal or formal.
Informal New York estate accounting
Informal accounting can contain only a simple summary of the estate funds, such as the principal received, income generated, expenses, payment of debts, and remaining funds left for distribution to the beneficiaries. If all the beneficiaries agree on the informal accounting, then a document called receipt, release, and refunding agreement is executed by each beneficiary, where each beneficiary agrees to discharge the executor or administrator from personal liability regarding the management of the estate and agrees to refund to the executor or administrator any legitimate expense related to the estate that is spent after distribution is made to the beneficiary. The personal representative may or may not file these receipt, release and refunding agreements with the court.
Formal New York estate accounting
New York estate formal accounting, on the other hand, occurs in a number of ways. A beneficiary can compel the executor or administrator to account, possibly because there is a disagreement on how estate funds were used. The court can also order a judicial accounting, especially when there is a minor beneficiary. The executor or administrator may also initiate a petition to judicially account when not all beneficiaries execute receipt and release agreements, and the executor or administrator would like to be protect himself by getting the court to approve the accounting and fully discharge him from liabilities.
Formal New York estate accounting requires a detailed accounting report regarding the principal received, realized gains or decreases from the principal, funeral and administration expenses, unpaid administration expenses, creditor’s claims, distribution of principal, new investments, income collected, administration expenses charged to income, distribution of income, statement of principal and income on hand, interested parties, computation of commissions, estate taxes paid, and cash reconciliation, reported under a court-approved format.
The principal received must be detailed and should include date received, a description, and a value. If the principal received is not in cash, but in the form of property (such as real property), there must be an appraisal to determine its value at the time it was received. If the real property has been sold for a profit at a price higher than its appraised value (for example, a house appraised at $550,000 was sold for $600,000), the gain (of $50,000) is reported in a separate schedule under realized increase of principal. If property such as stock, for example, was sold at a price lower than the value it was received (for example, 100 shares valued at $10/share when received was sold at $8/share thereafter), the loss (of $2/share or $200) is reported in a separate schedule under realized decreases of principal.
Interests received, such as interest from a bank account or a certificate of deposit, is reported under a separate schedule under income collected. Administration expenses are categorized under administration expenses taken from principal and administration expenses taken from income. These expenses must be sufficiently described, justified, and supported by receipts. Distributions are also categorized as those taken from the principal as opposed to those taken from income. At the end of the accounting summary, the remaining on hand should generally balance with your cash reconciliation, a separate schedule that provides the ending balances for all the bank accounts. The amount for unpaid administration expenses and commission for the executor or administrator is also indicated, which should already include a contingency fund and a proposed distribution to the beneficiaries.
A judicial estate accounting for the executor or administrator is a complex activity that is better left to an experienced estate attorney. If you are looking for an attorney for a New York estate accounting, we at the Law Offices of Albert Goodwin are here for you. You can call us at 718-509-9774 or send us an email at attorneyalbertgoodwin@gmail.com.
